Google Expanding Glass Explorer Program, Existing Users Can Now Invite Three Friends, Swap The Old Model For New

There’s always going to be a subset of the technology loving community that simply can’t force themselves to get on-board with a particular piece of tech, but the overall opinion about Google Glass seems overwhelmingly positive thus far. The good news coming from Google today is that reports of a Google Glass Explorer Program expansion are most definitely true with Google themselves confirming the imminent introduction of an invite system.

We had been hearing murmurings earlier on today about the potential for Google to mix the Explorer Program up a little bit to allow existing Glass owners the ability to introduce friends to the wearable technology. Rather than letting the speculation fester and do the rounds on the world-wide-web, Google has almost immediately confirmed that they will be introducing an invite system of sorts as well as offering existing Glass owners the ability to swap out their kit for a new and improved version of the headset.

At the time of writing, Google hasn’t actually offered up any concrete information regarding timescales or exactly when we could expect to see this change take place. However, they have gone as far as to state that existing Glass users should start to see the new system being put into place “over the next few weeks,” so it seems like most of the work behind-the-scenes is already complete. The system should allow those who already own Glass to invite up to three friends who can then purchase Glass for themselves.

In addition to the invite system. Google is also offering a one-time hardware exchange program. The program is designed to allow existing Glass owners to trade-in their original piece of kit for a new and improved version of the trendy eyewear. The official Google Glass Google+ page states that the company has been making the hardware better based on user feedback and that the new Glass device will work with “future lines of shades and prescription frames”. Google will also be including a mono earbud as part of the hardware exchange.

We’ve always known that Google were committed to the Glass project and making it as advanced and usable as possible. This update to the Explorer Program is clearly an attempt to get more users on board which in turn provides a lot more data and feedback to allow the project to be taken to the next level. This can only be good for consumers going forward.